Patron of Lam Rim Centres

His Eminence Ganden Trisur Rizong Rinpoche, Thubten Nyima Lungtok Tenzin Norbu is one of the most highly respected lamas alive today.

Born in Ladakh in 1928, his father was Prince Phuntsog Namgyal, a direct descendent of the Kings of Ladakh. His mother, Tsering Lhazom, was from the aristocratic Leh Kalon family. He was the nephew of the 19th Bakula Rinpoche.

As an infant he was recognized and enthroned as the reincarnation of the Rizong Sre Tulku, and since that time has dedicated his life to the study and practice of the enlightenment path. He joined Drepung Loseling Monastery, Lhasa, in the mid-1940s. In Tibetan spiritual circles he is regarded as a modern-day Milarepa, having lived a life of simplicity and meditation since his youth. Recently he completed a strict three year retreat in a remote cave of Ladakh so inaccessible that it was snowed in for six months a year. In the past he has served as abbot of firstly the Gyume Tantric College and then Drepung Loseling Monastery.

In 2009 he ascended the Garden Throne and was appointed Ganden Tripa - the head of the Gelug tradition and 102nd in line from Je Tsongkhapa himself